Road Less Traveled
by Adhara593
Summary: Set during the MWPP times and it's centered around Sirius Black. Mainly about his time Hogwarts and the struggles with his family. Rated for violence during a few chapters and maybe mild swearing. Can't write summaries.... USED 2 B "A TANGLED WEB" -Adhara
1. Hogwarts

Hey! This is my first fan-fiction! I'm so excited! =D =D =D This should end up being a pretty long fic, or at least that's my intention. Anyway, five points to whoever can guess the origin of my name! =P Plz R+R, just like every other writer, hehehe.  
  
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"SIRIUS!!! GET UP NOW!!!"  
  
Sirius stirred from his light slumber. Slowly, realization dawned on him. It was September first. IFinally! Yes!!!/I He thought as he excitedly jumped out of bed. He had been anticipating this day for a long time. For this was the day he could finally take his leave of the monsters that were his family.  
  
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After half an hour of getting dressed and double-checking packed trunks, they were finally on their way. Sirius's mother got the Floo Powder off the mantle on the fireplace and threw it into the fire. Promptly, without hesitation, Sirius walked right into the fireplace and said, "King's Cross!" and vanished from sight.  
  
Soon thereafter, his mother followed him and they proceeded into the crowded train station. "Now, then, remember, you must uphold the family reputation while at school, Sirius."  
  
"Yes, mother," Sirius replied, without thinking. It had become second nature to him.  
  
"Write home as soon as you've been sorted, won't you?"  
  
"Yes, mother."  
  
"Though it's perfectly obvious that you'll be in Slytherin like the rest of us. It's in your blood you know."  
  
"Yes mother."  
  
This was an often repeated conversation in the Black household. IThis is getting quite old.../I Sirius thought. IJust go with it./I He didn't want to be in Slytherin, though he had said so many a time while talking to his parents. It was what was expected of him. In his head, he knew that he was supposed to want to be in Slytherin like his parents, but somewhere, deep down in the core of his soul, he knew that he really didn't want to be like his parents at all. He hadn't felt comfortable with his parents and their pureblood talk since he was about eight years old...  
  
I***FLASHBACK***  
  
((Sirius POV))  
  
I had been playing at the park down the road while my parents were out. Suddenly, a boy about my age came up to me and asked if I would mind playing with him for a while, because he had just moved here and hadn't made any friends yet. I was stunned - I'd never been approached like this before - all children were warned early on that I had an odd family. By the time I got over the shock of it all, the boy was starting to look at me funny, wondering why I hadn't yet responded. Regaining my composure, I told the boy that I would love to play with him. After a while, I learned that his name was Matt and that his mother was also a witch, but his father was a Muggle. This meant nothing to me then and I didn't care. But I was soon to learn that it meant a great deal.  
  
We played for about three hours when my parents came looking for me. When they came around to the park, I introduced them to Matt and told them about his family, thinking they'd be happy that I had found someone to play with. However, they said their quick hello's and good-bye's and swiftly dragged me home and told me to meet them in father's office later on that evening.  
  
About an hour later, very confused, I walked into the office. It was a very professional-looking room. It's furniture was all dark-cherry wood and there were book-shelves lining the walls, mostly filled with books about potions and spells that were not normally used by the general wizarding community.  
  
There, I was given an extremely long talking-to about the importance of a wizard's family background - whether they were "purebloods" (like us, the Malfoys, and the Snapes), or "mudbloods". I wasn't quite sure what that word meant the first few times they used that word, and when my parents saw my obvious confusion, they explained that it meant "half-bloods" or Muggle- borns.  
  
"Do you understand what we're trying to say to you, Sirius?" my mother said in a not often-used kind voice.  
  
"Not really, mother..." I had replied. Apparently, it wasn't a good move.  
  
Her eyes flashed with anger, but she quickly calmed back down and said, "I'll make it simple for you, Sirius. We don't want you interacting with people like Matt anymore. They aren't good for people like us purebloods to be talking to. They'll ruin our reputation. Understood?"  
  
"Yes, mother." Even at that age I was well trained. Though, in my heart, I knew they were wrong, that "people like Matt", as she put it, weren't bad people and it wasn't their fault that they weren't born into "pureblood families". After that day, my family and I had many arguments over that particular issue, and, little by little, I began hating my parents. My brother, Regulus, however, went along with the insanity, and slowly, we began to drift apart as well.  
  
((End Sirius POV))  
  
***END FLASHBACK***/I  
  
"Sirius? Let's go!" Sirius's mother said, jerking him out of his daydream. Sirius casually pushed his cart through the barrier, feeling as if it were the gateway to freedom. "Hey, look! There's Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy with your cousins over there! Why don't you go sit with them, Sirius?" his mother asked.  
  
IBecause I don't want to.I Sirius thought.  
  
"Remember, Sirius, if you tell the Sorting Hat that you want to be in Slytherin, it has a greater chance of putting you there." she told him, smiling. I I'll keep that in mind.... /I With that, Sirius watched his mother go back through the barrier, leaving him alone with the rather large crowd milling about on Platform 9 3/4. IFinally.../I he thought, for the second time that day, and went off to make some friends.  
  
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Fifteen minutes later, he was on the train, walking up and down the train compartments, trying to find some promising first years to hang out with on the way to school. In the last compartment, he found three boys - a boy with messy, dark black hair, a rather tired-looking boy with light brown hair and hazel eyes, and another, small, quite nervous-looking boy with a round face and light brown eyes. Immediately, Sirius took a liking to them and asked if he could sit with them.  
  
"Why, of course!" said the boy with dark, messy hair with a grin. "We were just about to begin introductions! My name's James Potter."  
  
"Mine's Remus Lupin," the light-brown haired replied.  
  
"I'm Peter Pettigrew," said the last boy. "And you are?"  
  
"My name's Sirius." Sirius said vaguely. He suddenly realized that he did not want them to know his last name - everyone knew the Black's family reputation, and he didn't want it.  
  
"That's an awesome name! Sirius what?" James said with his aforementioned grin still in place.  
  
"Black..." Sirius replied softly. James' grin faltered slightly.  
  
"Are you really?" Remus asked.  
  
"Yeah..." Sirius said miserably. "I guess I'll leave..."  
  
"No, no, no, wait! Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you or anything. It just surprised me that a Black would be in a compartment having a conversation with people like us." Remus explained.  
  
"I'm not like my family." Sirius said defensively.  
  
"Oh. Sorry..."  
  
"No, I shouldn't have snapped. It's just that I hate my family and really don't like being compared to them."  
  
"Well, then... Why do you hate them?" James asked with curiosity.  
  
"Because of their belief that we're so much better than everyone else and that anyone not like us doesn't deserve to be able to be graced with our presence."  
  
There was and akward silence. "Well, that's good, I suppose. Now we have another person to be friends with." James, his grin now solidly back in place. "Anyone for Exploding Snap?"  
  
With this, they played the game for about an hour, when the snack cart finally came along. They then discovered another thing they all had in common - their taste in sweets. With their combined, quite large, amount of money, they bought a large quantity of candy, including Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Ice Mice, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Licorice Wands, and Cauldron Cakes.  
  
Quite full and quite happy with his three new friends, Sirius exited the train and promptly heard the cry of, "Firs' years!" from a very large man Sirius could have sworn had some kind of giant lineage. The giant-man led them over to a flock of boats. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter all hopped in the boat just as they began to be pulled across the lake. When the castle came into view, Sirius couldn't repress a gasp. Mother and father told me how big this place was, but I never imagined it could be THIS big....  
  
Finally, when they got in the Great Hall, it was time for them to be sorted. Sirius was getting quite nervous. IWhat do I do?? Do I ask to be sorted into Slytherin even though I don't want to....? I don't think I will... If I'm meant to be there, I'll be put there without having to ask./I  
  
Through all of his nervousness, Sirius had missed the Sorting Hat's song and Professor.... IMcGonagall, was it?/I was already to the Bs on the list. IOh, no... Here it comes...../I.  
  
"Berns, David!" was placed in Ravenclaw just as Sirius was pulled from his thoughts.  
  
"Bentley, Kara!" was then placed in Hufflepuff, followed closely by her cousin, Olga.  
  
Before his liking, Professor McGonagall was calling, "Black, Sirius!" With a reassuring looks from his friends, Sirius hesitantly walked up to the stool and slipped the too-large hat on his head. Making him jump, a voice in his head spoke to him.  
  
IHmmm..... Another Black.... I guess, the obvious way to go would be to put you straight in Slytherin..../I Sirius' heart dropped like a rock.IAh, just as I thought. Like your cousin, you don't really want to be in Slytherin do you?/I Hesitantly, Sirius ever-so-slightly shook his head. IAlright, then./I If hats could smile, Sirius was sure this one would be. I suppose you belong in.... Sirius heard the hat shout for the whole hall to hear, "GRYFFINDOR!!!"  
  
With mixed feelings of relief and dread of what his mother would say, Sirius took off the hat, grinned at his friends and practically skipped over to the Gryffindor table, trying to ignore the metaphoric daggers being shot at him by his cousins and would-be friends at the Slytherin table.  
  
Eagerly anticipating the food to later be served, Sirius watched the rest of the sorting in which Remus, Peter, and finally James were all sorted into his house, along with five girls, including a very pretty, red-haired girl named Lily Potter, a snotty-looking Elizabeth Kwan, a happy Mari McKinnon, a brown-haired, brown-eyed Victoria Park, and an extremely short, reddish-black haired girl named Alison Thompson.  
  
"With that all over with, and bearing in mind that the Forbidden Forest is out-of-bounds, follow the rules, etc., etc., let's eat!" said an aging man Sirius could only assume was Professor Dumbledore.  
  
After helping to himself to some steak, potatoes and some brown, fizzy stuff that tasted remarkably like Muggle Dr. Pepper, Sirius found himself engaged in conversation with his new-found friends. Quidditch was apparently very important to James and talked non-stop about he planned on showing up for Chaser tryouts, though he knew full well that first years weren't supposed to be allowed on house teams.  
  
As he reached over to get some more hashed browns from the plate almost too far away, Sirius accidently knocked arms with Alison as she stretched to reach the same thing. Smiling nervously, Sirius helped Alison get her food and then helped himself. She's cute.... he thought.  
  
After dessert (which was compiled of mint chocolate chip ice cream and deliciously moist chocolate cake with very little frosting), they were led up to Gryffindor Tower by the Prefect, who told them the new password, "fairy dust". He was thoroughly surprised by the magnificent room before him and immediately fell in love with it. Lucy, I'm home.... Sirius said, giggling, remembering an old Muggle TV show that Matt had told him about before his parents forbid him to play with him anymore.  
  
"Everyone up to your rooms and lights out in half an hour!" the prefect shouted to them. Sirius and his friends spent the half hour allowed to themselves wisely... They played Exploding Snap for a while and then went off to get acquainted with their new housemates. Sirius immediately went off to find Alison Thompson and was having a lovely conversation with her when, looking across the Common Room, saw that James was doing a similar thing with one Lily Potter. IThis is going to be an interesting school year./I he thought to himself, while still carrying on his conversation with Alison Thompson about what their interests were.  
  
All too soon, it was time to go to bed and Sirius lay in bed very full and completely happy to be in Gryffindor Tower, eagerly awaiting the beginning of classes the next morning.  
  
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Again, plz R+R and I will love you. =) Anywho, see ya next update! If I can figure out how.. 


	2. First Classes

Hey, everyone! Next chapter, coming right up! lol. I'm a little over- ecstatic at the moment. Just got into All-County Band and I got a 98% on my French exam. Great combo. lol. Anyway, how'z everyone else? Good? Good, I'm glad. =P Oh, yeah, thanks to I'm Not Weird, I'm Gifted for reminding me that Lily was an Evans when they were in school. I feel really stupid now. lol. On with the story!  
  
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The next morning, Sirius awoke early to hear everyone snoring beyond the curtains of his bed. II guess all those years of waking up early at home have finally paid off./I He got dressed and waited for his three new friends to wake up. First, Remus got up and they engaged in conversations about their families ("I hate my parents, but my brother's not so bad. You?" "My family's pretty good." "Good" and so forth). James was the next up. He, Sirius, and Remus hung around for about a half an hour before they finally gave up on Peter waking up on his own. A huge splash and scream later, a very annoyed and wet Peter sprung out of his bed. After a good scream, he grabbed some clothes and went to change.  
  
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At breakfast when the post arrived, an all-too familiar tawny owl fluttered down to see Sirius - with a red envelope in his beak. IOh, no./I Sirius thought. IHere it comes/I While trying to ignore the strange looks from his friends, Sirius cautiously reached over the envelope and quickly covered his ears to stifle the sound as his mother's voice boomed through the hall.  
  
"I CAN'T BELIEVE MY OWN SON GOT SORTED INTO GRYFFINDOR!!!! BOY, ARE YOU GONNA GET IT WHEN YOU GET HOME!! AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THE COURAGE TO WRITE AND TELL ME ABOUT IT!!! I'M THOROUGHLY DISAPPOINTED IN YOU AND YOU HAD BETTER NOT STEP ONE TOE OUT OF LINE AT SCHOOL OR I'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!" Then, in a smaller voice, the letter continued. "Signed, your mother."  
  
Thoroughly embarrassed, Sirius look up apologetically at his friends stunned faces. "Sorry," he mouthed. At that exact moment, Professor McGonagall came around handing out their schedules.  
  
I  
  
Monday: Potions, Lunch, Defense Against the Dark Arts  
  
Tuesday: Transfiguration, Lunch, Charms, (midnight) Astronomy  
  
Wednesday. Flying Lessons, Herbology, Lunch, History of Magic Thursday: Potions, Lunch, Defense Against the Dark Arts Friday: Herbology, Lunch, History of Magic, (midnight) Astronomy Saturday: Transfiguration, Lunch, Charms /I  
  
"Alrighty, then!" James said, making an attempt at trying to be optimistic. "Let's get to it! Potions in fifteen minutes. Let's try not to get lost." He finished with his trademark goofy grin.  
  
And so, the boys proceeded down to the dungeons for their first class of their Hogwarts career. "What was that professor's name again?" Peter asked.  
  
"Umm.. Pierce, was it? One of the only old guys. Most of them are pretty young. Flitwick, Sinistra, Hooch, Sprout, all pretty young, in their 30s, 40s, Sinistra could even be in her 20s," Remus replied.  
  
"Must you use only last names?" James asked. "It's kinda confusing."  
  
"Would you have me call them by their first names? That's kinda weird."  
  
"Okay, granted."  
  
By this time, they had reached their Potions classroom and had taken their seats in the back of the room. Professor Pierce walked in a few minutes after them, waiting for the stragglers to come in to take roll. Once everyone was there, he began.  
  
"Anderson, Michael."  
  
"Here."  
  
"Black, Bellatrix."  
  
Stunned, Sirius realized his cousin was going to be in his class all year. IGreat./I  
  
"Black, Sirius."  
  
"Here," he replied in a daze.  
  
"Carter, Joseph."  
  
"Here."  
  
"Evans, Lily."  
  
"Here."  
  
"Jones, Sasha."  
  
"Here."  
  
And it went down the list through Elizabeth Kwan, Remus, Lucius Malfoy, Mari McKinnon, Victoria Park, Sarah Parkinson, Peter, James, Samantha Sanders, Severus Snape, Brendan Stevens, and finally Alison Thompson. Professor Pierce stood up and began the lesson.  
  
"Potions is a very exact science and any messing around in here will earn you a quick detention and deletion of house points, the amount depending on the severity of the crime. Now, who has even picked up the book yet?" Looking around the room, the only people raising their hands were Severus, Remus, Alison, Mari, Sasha, and Michael. "Well, that's better than last year's first years at any rate. Well, today we'll start off with a simple awakening potion." Waving his wand, the instructions were written on the board. "You may work in partners or trios and we will test the potions at the end of class. Your homework is to describe the effects of the Awakening Potion in three paragraphs. You may begin."  
  
"Partner?" James asked. Sirius jumped, surprised.  
  
"Sure!" He gave James his soon-to-be-not-so-rare grin.  
  
They worked all period on their potion, surprisingly not making to many mistakes, only having to start over once. IThis isn't so bad./I Sirius thought. When the professor finally came over to check their potion, he found it satisfactory and moved on. James and Sirius promptly gave eachother high-fives and waited for Remus and Peter to get done. After class, Sirius asked what class was next.  
  
"Defense Against the Dark Arts."  
  
"Oooooh, this outta be fun!" Sirius said enthusiastically. "Let's go!" And started running off towards the classroom. Grabbing the back of his robes, James stopped him.  
  
"Whoa, there! Lunch first, dude." James shot him his grin and led the way to the Great Hall.  
  
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As they stepped into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, the Gryffindors realized none of them had a clue who the Defense teacher was. They spent about fifteen minutes contemplating this when all of a sudden a rather hyper, curly-haired professor bounded into the room.  
  
"Good morning everyone! I'll bet NONE of you know who I am, right?" Taking the silence for an answer, she continued. "Well, my name is Kara MacHale, but you can call me Kara. I hate the whole Professor deal." Even after saying this all in one breath, she was still completely energized. "Well, time for role then."  
  
They had Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Hufflepuffs this year and Sirius started memorizing the names she called:  
  
"Carrie? James? Sirius? Matt? Mari? Julia? Lelani? Victoria? Alison? Remus? Jason? Peter? Elizabeth? Lily? Anna? Will? Jonathan?" she said, pausing after each name called. "Good then, everyone's here," she finished, giving them a grin. II like her.I Sirius thought. IThis outta be a fun year./I  
  
"Alright, then. This year, I think I'll start off a little differently. We're going to start on some minor spells." Looking at everyone opening their books to the section, she said, "No, no, no! You won't need those - ever. I believe in teaching things my own way instead of by the book all the time." I I'm /I really Istarting to like this teacher./I "First we'll be doing the Expelliarmus charm, which is one of the most effective ways to defend yourself against a not-so-very-powerful wizard, as they will then have no weapon. However, more powerful wizards who are on their guard will be able to defend themselves against it, therefore making it completely pointless. I shall demonstrate. Umm.. Lelani, come up here please."  
  
A small, blonde girl walked up to the front of the room looking very nervous. "Yes?" She asked, very very softly.  
  
"Simply stand there and take out your wand, Lelani," Kara said kindly. When Lelani had taken out her wand, Kara said in a commanding voice, "Expelliarmus!" and Lelani's wand came soaring into her hand. Lelani looked quite impressed, as if she had never seen anything that spectacular before.  
  
Finding everyone wondering what she was so surprised for, she giggled and said a little louder than before, "My parents are Muggles. I've never seen magic before coming here." She giggled again and walked back to her seat next to Julia.  
  
"Okay, everyone, get into groups of two and one group of three, pairing with someone from the opposite house, if you please, and practice this spell. You have the rest of the period. Oh, yeah, your homework is to tell me what you thought of your first lesson. This is my first year of teaching." And she sat down at her desk laughing slightly to herself.  
  
With that, Sirius went off and paired with Will from Hufflepuff and Mari, who was the leftover from Gryffindor. When the period was over, he had accomplished three fair Expelliarmus', twice with Will and once with Mari. When the bell rang, the Gryffindors walked to the Great Hall for dinner together.  
  
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"So, how d'you think it went?" James asked them all later that night.  
  
"Really, well, I think." Sirius responded. "Defense was definitely more fun than potions, but neither of them were very bad."  
  
"Definitely," Remus agreed. "Especially because of those Slytherins we're with in Potions. Did you see the looks they were throwing at us?"  
  
James and Sirius looked up very quickly at this. "What?" they asked in unison.  
  
"Yeah, they obviously hate us to no end."  
  
Sirius looked thoroughly annoyed at this. IAnd Bella's /I my/II cousin./I "Hmm." Throwing a pointed look at James, he said, "We'll have to see about that."  
  
And so their life of prankstering began.  
  
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So, what'd you think? This was kind of not-well-planned-out chapter, anyway. I got really bored while studying for my geometry exam tomorrow. Don't worry, tho, I know all the stuff anyway. lol. Please R+R and thanx again to my reviewers from the last chapter! : 


	3. The First Prank and Astronomy

Hello again. =D Exams are over. YAY!!!! lol. I saw Return of the King yesterday. It wasn't as good as I'd hoped, but it wasn't bad. Two Towers was better. Anyway, how is everyone? Oh, yeah, if you can tell me how to do italics, I'd REALLY REALLY appreciate it. Thanx. On with the story!  
  
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The next day was their first Transfiguration class. After she called roll, Professor McGonagall lectured them on the importance on paying attention in class, etc. and then proceeded to teach them about transfiguring a sewing needle into a nail, one of the most basic transfigurations. Then the Gryffindors went to lunch. iFinally./i Sirius thought.  
  
"Time to have some fun." Sirius said with a smile and proceeded to walk discreetly over to the Slytherin table, trying to look casual. Walking in the general direction of the first year Slytherins, he muttered a well- choiced spell under his breath. Then he proceeded to walk away with a slightly triumphant grin on his face.  
  
"What'd you do?" James asked. He couldn't see anything different about the Slytherins at all.  
  
"Just wait. You'll see," was Sirius' vague reply.  
  
"Alright, then." And they went on to eat their lunch. About fifteen minutes later, there came a scream from the first year Slytherins. James whipped around to see what kind of havoc was being produced and gasped before bursting out laughing. Over at the other table, the pudding was starting to sing "Devil In Disguise" while the first-year girls were screaming to wake the dead when the mashed potatoes and other plates of food began exploding, sending bits everywhere. "You did that?!" James asked. Sirius nodded while wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. "Where did you learn to do that?!"  
  
"My friend's father loved funny things like that and taught us a bunch of odd spells last year."  
  
"That's brilliant!" And, with that, James began laughing like a maniac again.  
  
iWell, that was fun/i, Sirius thought, and went off to Charms with his friends.  
  
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On the way to Astronomy at 11:45, the four friends were still laughing hysterically about the morning's prank.  
  
"Did you see Sasha's face?" James said with his trademark grin.  
  
"Forget Sasha, what about that Severus guy?" Remus said and promptly began laughing again. This kind of conversation had been going on all day.  
  
"Hey, Sirius, how come that spell happened almost fifteen minutes after you cast it?" Peter asked.  
  
"Because, if had happened immediately, it would have been way too obvious that I'd done it and I would have gotten in trouble, see? Though "  
  
"You're a genius, Sirius!" James announced.  
  
"I know," Sirius replied. By this time they were at the Astronomy tower. They took their seats in the mini-observatory that was the tower. "Where's the teacher?" he asked noone in particular.  
  
By this time the Ravenclaws had filed in and one of them, a very tall boy with red hair replied, "Not a clue. Name's Derek. What's your name?"  
  
"Sirius."  
  
A voice came from the dark corner of the room. "Ah, an astronomical name," the voice said, making Sirius jump. Professor Sinistra came out from the shadows and Sirius relaxed a little.  
  
"Yes, m'am," he said.  
  
"Everyone take your seats and I'll call roll. I may do this a bit different than other teachers, so listen carefully to my instructions. I will call all of your names without stopping, and I expect to hear." She paused, counting on the roll sheet. "19 'here's in reply. Sound good? Alrighty." This didn't make any sense to Sirius, but he didn't really care. iOkeydokey./i he thought.  
  
"Kara Bentley, Olga Bentley, Derek Chambers, Daniel Rockfield, Branden King, Justin Marx, Steven Hall, Erica James, Cassie Foster, Stephanie Clikner, James Potter, Mari McKinnon, Sirius Black, Elizabeth Kwan, Victoria Park, Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, Alison Thompson, and Lily Evans." She then heard nineteen answers in quick succession. "Very good, very good," She said with a too-big-for-her-face smile. Sirius noticed that she had not called the names in any order at all. iA little loony, but not so bad./i Sirius thought.  
  
"First we'll be starting with a very interesting subject and I find that most students don't mind it all that much. Black Holes." Most of the class brightened up at this and she continued. "Black Holes are, to put it very, very simply, regions of space where so much mass is concentrated that nothing, not even light, can escape the gravitational pull. It is an area where the escape velocity is greater than the speed of light. The more massive an object is, the faster you have to travel to escape its gravity. This is known as the escape velocity. Black holes are so massive that their escape velocity is faster than the speed of light. Since nothing can travel faster than light, nothing can escape the gravity of a black hole. There are three parts of a Black Holes. The Event Horizon, the Schwarzchild Radius, and the Singularity. The Event Horizon is the The event horizon marks the outer boundary of the black hole's extreme gravitational influence. It is the point of no return. If anything passes into the Event Horizon, even light, it is doomed. The Schwarzchild Radius is the distance between the Event Horizon and the Singularity. The Singularity is the center of the Black Hole. One of the more interesting theories about Black Holes is that gravity effects time and since the gravity of a black hole, it slows down time, sometimes bringing it almost to a stand-still and, some people believe that if a black hole had enough gravity, you could travel back in time."  
  
This went on for the rest of the period. The whole class was completely absorbed in the lecture. Sirius found this all fascinating. iI like this class already./i  
  
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When class was ended, the majority of the class rushed downstairs to get some sleep before the next morning's class, and this did not exclude the first-year Gryffindors. On the way back to the Common Room, Sirius was ecstatic. "That was so much fun! I can't wait till next week!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Dude, it was pretty cool, sure, but I don't think it was ithat/i cool." James said, trying not to laugh too hard.  
  
Calming down a little, Sirius replied, "Yes, it was," and sleepily told to the portrait the password to get into the Common Room.  
  
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Up in the dormitory, when they were all dressed, Sirius noticed something a little odd about his friend. "Hey, Remus, you okay?"  
  
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine, just really tired and I just got a letter from my mom saying she's sick and I need to go home and see her after classes tomorrow. I'm a little mad because now I have to do my Potions assignment from yesterday tomorrow at lunch because I was lazy and haven't done it yet."  
  
"Oh. It's okay, I finished mine. I'll help you if you want." Sirius told him.  
  
"Really? Thanks!" Remus said, looking a little happier. "I feel a little better now, but I'm still tired. I think I'll go to bed now. G'night everyone." With that, he promptly went to sleep.  
  
"Not a bad idea, yes?" James said. "I think we should all go to bed now. Good night."  
  
Then, suddenly, Sirius was left alone with his thoughts. i'Wonder what's wrong with Remus? Oh, I'll think about it tomorrow. Time to go to sleep./i He muttered the spell to turn out the light by his bed, closed the curtains and drifted off to sleep.  
  
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That was a rather forced chapter.. I'm sorry. lol. It's okay. The next one will be better, I promise! Please, please, please review if you're reading this. So far I've gotten a grand total of 1 review while this afternoon I was reading a brand-new story that was just published today that had 2 reviews already. =( lol. Not really, but please review if you don't mind. Thanx. And again, if this doesn't work, can someone plz tell me how to do italics? Thanx again. Have a nice day everyone!  
  
^^Adhara^^ 


	4. Flying Lessons

Hello, everyone!!! STILL NO MORE REVIEWS!!!! But you know what? lol. I don't care. All I wanna do is write. But I can't get any better if you don't tell me what I'm doing wrong, right? lol. Plz, plz, plz, if nothing else, just tell me how to do italics/bold/underline and all that. JUST that would be greatly appreciated. For now **~~~~** is italics, k?  
  
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"Sirius!!! Get up **now**!!!"  
  
Sorely reminded of home, Sirius slowly opened his eyes. "How can you sleep in so long, dude? You were the first up yesterday!" James asked.  
  
Still sleepy, Sirius replied, "You know you use the word 'dude' too much?"  
  
"Yeah, that's the way I am. Mwahahahaha! Up!" He explained with a grin.  
  
"Alright, I'm up!"  
  
"Good, you can help us with Peter. Yesterday's method didn't work."  
  
"What?" Sirius asked, then looked over at a very wet Peter, still fast asleep. "Good grief. Let me see." He got out of his bed and grabbed his wand, sleepily muttering a spell, then looking very self-satisfied when Peter opened his eyes. **I knew that would come in handy someday** he thought to himself.  
  
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Down at breakfast, the Slytherin table was still glaring over in the direction of the Gryffindors. "Do you think they **know** it was us?" Peter asked nervously.  
  
"Nah. They can't have found out. There's no evidence anyway. What do we have today?" Remus responded.  
  
Sirius, consulting his schedule, told him, "Flying Lessons first."  
  
James spit out his orange juice, sending it everywhere. "**What???!!**" he exclaimed.  
  
"Erm.. Flying Lessons." Sirius said again.  
  
"YES!!!" James said. At the confused expressions, he explained with a grin, "I love flying!"  
  
"Me, too, but you're ecstatic." Sirius said, trying not to laugh. "Let's go then."  
  
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At the Quidditch pitch, Madame Hooch was explaining the basics of flying. "To rise into the air, simply kick up with your feet - hard," she told them. "Rise a few feet and come back down quickly by leaning forward slightly, if you please." James and Sirius did it perfectly the first time, Remus did it pretty well, but a little wobbly, and Peter couldn't get off the ground. Repressing a laugh, James and Sirius got off their brooms to try and help Peter. After about five tries, Peter finally was able to get off the ground and come back down without any major mishaps.  
  
"Right, then, once you're comfortable with that exercise, you may try to hover around until the end of the class period. However, those who are not quite ready for that, meet me over in the left section of the pitch for extra help. Your homework is to tell me if you have ever flown before, how long if you have, and whether you've ever played Quidditch before. Due to the lack of Quidditch players, Dumbledore has allowed first years to try out, but only if they have done it before. The open positions are: Beaters, a Seeker, and one Chaser. You may go and practice now. Wait for the bell for dismissal though."  
  
Remus groaned. "What's wrong?" Sirius asked. **He's still looking really tired** he thought.  
  
"I just remembered about that homework I have to do is all," Remus replied.  
  
"Oh, that. I'll help you remember?" Seeing his half-hearted smile, Sirius said, "Well, let's forget about it for now and get on to flying!" And he was off.  
  
At that moment, James came over, clearly over-ecstatic. "This is **great**!!!!" He said. "Are you going to try out for Quidditch? I asked, tryouts are in a couple of weeks."  
  
"Yeah, I think I will. Probably Seeker or a Beater. You?"  
  
"Definitely a Chaser. Wanna race?"  
  
"You're on." And they were off until the bell signaled that it was time for the next class.  
  
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Okay. That was a MEGA-short chapter, I know, but I wanted to get it out today so I could say Merry Christmas to everyone who reads this. lol. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!! ((R+R plz, as always. Laterz!)) 


	5. Family and Quidditch

Alrighty, everyone! I'm going to write a chapter and post it **all in the same night** for once! Wow. That's why some of notes at the beginnings and endings of the chapters reflect different moods. I didn't write them on the same day! lol. Anywayz, on with the story! ((Happy New Year, everyone!!!))  
  
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After Herbology in the greenhouses, which everyone hated except for Peter, they went back up to the school for lunch. As soon as they'd walked through the door of the Great Hall, they were encountered by the other first-year Slytherins. **Oh, here it comes..** Sirius thought.  
  
"Sirius! I wonder what your parents will think when they find out you've befriended the Potter's son and a Muggle-born..? Or do they not know?" Bellatrix immediately asked him.  
  
"I honestly don't care, dear cousin. Now, if you'll excuse us, there's some food calling our name right over there," Sirius responded.  
  
Bellatrix then shoved her cousin into the near-by wall, holding him there. "Are you **trying** to ruin our family's name, Sirius? I honestly thought you were better than that, though noone else did. I guess they were right all along." She let him go and stormed off.  
  
"What was **that** all about?" James asked his friend, who looked as if this were to be expected.  
  
"Oh, that's just my cousin. Never liked her much, but we got along pretty well. Now of course noone in my family, except probably Andromeda, will want to have anything to do with me, for obvious reasons. Let's go get some food."  
  
"Alright, then." James said, and left it at that.  
  
"Oh, yeah, Remus, wanted help with that Potions thing, right?" Sirius said, subtly changing the subject. When his friend didn't respond right away, he turned to look at him. He looked rather pale. "You okay? Earth to Remus."  
  
"What? Oh, yeah, right, the essay.." he said, his mind obviously somewhere else. "Let's eat first."  
  
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After classes, Remus sadly said good-bye to his friends. "I probably won't be home until morning," he told them. "Thanks a lot of for helping with that essay, Sirius."  
  
"No problem," Sirius replied with a grin.  
  
After a few minutes more of light-hearted conversation, the four friends went their separate ways, Sirius and James going to the Quidditch pitch to practice for try-outs, Peter going to the Common Room to finish homework, and Remus went upstairs. **Hope his mom's okay** Sirius thought to himself, before getting too focused on flying to think about it.  
  
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The next morning, Remus wasn't at breakfast, but showed up in the middle of Potions class. "Nice of you to join us, Mr. Lupin," Professor Pierce said. "Now, we've switched partners since last lesson. Why don't you partner with Miss Park? She was the 'left over' since there was an odd number of students in your absence."  
  
So, for the remainder of the period, Remus worked on the Cheering Concoction with Victoria, who was already quite cheery to begin with. **She's kinda pretty" Remus thought to himself. **Whoa. I've never thought anything like that before...** Shrugging it, off, he went back to work.  
  
Immediately after the bell rang, Remus was bombarded with questions from his new friends.  
  
"How was your mom?"  
  
"Was it boring?"  
  
"Did you like being home for a while?"  
  
"Did you miss us?"  
  
"By the way, you look awful. Did you not sleep all night or something?"  
  
He tried to answer all of the questions while on the way to lunch. "My mom's fine now, thanks, it was boring, I didn't really care about being at home as I only left it last week, yes, I missed you, and I **did** sleep, I'm just tired."  
  
"Wow, you remembered all those questions?" James said with a laugh. "Very nice."  
  
"Thank you," Remus said proudly.  
  
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The next two weeks passed by similarly and James and Sirius woke up on Wednesday morning positively euphoric, their excitedness waking up the rest of the dormitory.  
  
"What are you so happy about?" Remus inquired. He wasn't accustomed to being waken up by sounds of happiness - it was usually groans like, "It's not time to get up already, is it?" and "Just five more minutes."  
  
James looked offended. "Have you forgotten what day it is??" he asked.  
  
"Um. yes?" Peter replied from the other bed.  
  
"Tut, tut, my friends. Today is the day of the Quidditch try-outs!" Sirius told them, as if it were the best thing in the world.  
  
"Oh." Remus said, smiling at his blissful friends. "However, have you two forgotten about the classes we have today?"  
  
"Of course not, my dear comrade. Flying today!" he told him. Then, in an annoyed, quiet voice, "And Herbology, and History of Magic." Getting into an optimistic mood again, "But **that's okay!!!**" Laughing they went down to breakfast.  
  
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"Alright, class. If you're going to try out for the Quidditch team this afternoon, you may go off on your own to practice. There are practice balls in the broom shed."  
  
"See you guys later!" James and Sirius said as they flew off toward the broom shed. Sirius had decided he'd try out for Seeker and practiced with one of the old Snitch's, which was rather slow and easy to find. After catching it easily ten times, he decided he'd be a practice Keeper for James until class was over, who got the practice Quaffle past him too many times to count.  
  
"Not bad, my friend," he told James as they started to walk inside after the bell trying to catch up to Remus and Peter.  
  
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They dragged themselves through the rest of their classes for the day, James and Sirius utterly impatient, constantly glancing at the clock. Finally, it was time for tryouts. Grinning broadly, the two Quidditch- lovers left Remus and Peter in the library, heading towards the Quidditch field.  
  
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That was bad! lol. But that's okay! Please, please, please, if you have an idea as to where this story should go until about two weeks until Christmas ((I have after that planned out =P)), just press that pretty little button down there next to the beautiful words "Submit Review". =P Thanx so much. To anyone wonderful enough to be reading my story, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! =D  
  
^^Adhara^^ 


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